Chapter 4

The phone hadn't locked yet when it suddenly started blaring.

Frank jumped, almost dropping the towel he was holding.

I caught him with one hand and snatched up the phone with the other.

Ella's name popped up on the caller ID.

It wasn't Leonard.

It was his mother, Ella.

I stared at the screen for a second before picking up.

"Beatrice." Ella's voice was calm, but there was a hint of anger she couldn't quite hide. "Leonard called me."

Wow, that was fast.

Leonard couldn't deal with it himself and ran to his mom for help.

Ella asked, "Did you have a fight with him?"

"Ella, what do you mean by 'having a fight'?" I kept my tone flat.

"Your son was hugging and flirting with his female assistant at work, and Frank walked in on them.

"That woman slapped Frank right across the face, and now half his face is still swollen.

"I told Leonard to bring her over to apologize, but he said I was making a big deal out of nothing. So tell me, who's making a scene here?"

There was a two-second pause on the other end.

I thought maybe she'd say something that made sense.

But instead, Ella sighed, using that classic "hear me out" tone.

She began, "I know you're upset that Frank got hit. Any mom would be. But you have to keep things in perspective.

"Frank's still a kid. He doesn't really understand. He was running around, probably startled her, so it's not a big deal if he got slapped."

Not a big deal, huh?

That was ridiculous.

She was using the same excuse as Leonard.

"Ella," I said, my voice going cold, "that slap landed on your grandson's face, not mine.

"There are five red fingerprints, and his face is still swollen. I can send you a photo if you want to see for yourself."

"Don't blow things out of proportion every time." Ella's tone got harsher.

"Leonard's a grown man. He goes out, mingles, and has a few girls he's close to. Every guy does.

"Look the other way and let it go. Why stir things up like this? Who does it benefit?"

Every guy did the same.

Coming from Ella, that was ridiculous and gross.

I shot back, "Ella, are you telling me it's normal for your son to keep a mistress, and it's normal for that woman to slap your grandson, and I'm not allowed to have an opinion?"

"I didn't say that." Ella's voice wavered for a moment, but she quickly pulled herself together.

"What I'm saying is, don't let the family's dirty laundry get out. As his wife, you should be able to handle things and keep it together.

"If you're always threatening this and that, imagine what people would say if word got out. How bad would that look?"

So airing dirty laundry was the real problem.

But Leonard's getting cozy with Kelly was not a problem.

And it was fine for Kelly to smack Frank.

As the father, Leonard was fine to say Frank deserved it.

But the second I spoke up, suddenly I was airing dirty laundry.

"Ella," I said, "I gave him five minutes. There's over three minutes left."

Ella asked, "What do you mean, five minutes?"

I replied, "For Kelly to come over, bow, and apologize."

Ella's voice shot up in panic. "Are you crazy? Making her bow and apologize? Who do you think you are?"

"I'm Frank's mom." I glanced down at Frank, who was curled up next to me, his eyes wide with fear.

I added, "Whoever lays a hand on my son, they bow and apologize. Doesn't matter who I am."

"Beatrice!" Ella's voice rose, sharp and angry. "Since you married into the Morton family, have you ever lacked for anything?

"Leonard's never treated you badly. If you break up this family over something so small, think. What do you think you'll get out of it?"

It was always "something so small."

There she went again.

To them, everything was always "no big deal."

Frank's face didn't matter. His tears didn't matter. Nobody cared even when he asked, "Did I do something wrong?"

All that mattered was keeping quiet, not letting anyone find out, and making sure the Morton family didn't lose face.

"Ella, are you done?" I kept my tone flat.

"If you're done, I'm hanging up. This is between Leonard and me. You don't need to get involved."

Ella was pissed. "You..."

I hung up.

I tossed the phone back onto the coffee table with a loud smack.

Frank hunched his shoulders, looking up at me. "Mom, Grandma's mad."

"Let her be mad," I said.

I gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

"Grandma being mad has nothing to do with you getting hit," I told him.

Frank nodded, staying quiet.

I glanced at the timer.

It showed 03:47.

Over ten seconds later, the phone rang again.

This time, it was Leonard.

He finally called.

I picked up.

"What the hell do you want?" Leonard's voice came at me hard, blunt, and dripping with impatience.

It was dead silent on his end, not even a whisper of background noise. With the door shut tight, I didn't need to guess who he was with.

I didn't rush to answer. I switched the phone to my other hand and gave Frank two gentle pats on the back.